National briefs

Dentists caught out by Medicare audits have won a reprieve. The government will take another look at 95 completed audits and 534 under way involving the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme. Human Services Minister
Kim Carr
said new rules for the audits would allow “a more educative approach" for dentists tripped up by paperwork. Not all dentists will get off, though, said Mr Carr, given some dentists had “flagrantly and repeatedly breached their administrative and patient care obligations". Emma Connors

The government has floated the idea of licensing and legalising major types of online gambling in a draft report. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 is making only a very minor contribution to reducing harm to problem gamblers, the Department of Communications says in its interim report on its review of the law. It says 2200 online gambling providers are offering services in Australia, leading to losses of more than $1 billion, in likely contravention of the law. Responding to the report,
Tabcorp
argued that online gambling should be legalised. Jason Murphy

There has been a 375 per cent increase in the number of complaints to West Australia’s energy ombudsman since 2008, a budget committee hearing has been told. WA Ombudsman
Chris Field
told the committee the increase was partly due to rising power prices and problems with the billing system of utility provider Synergy. Meanwhile, Western Power has welcomed a report that said the reliability of its network had improved over the past financial year. AAP

Tasmanian vineyard owners are being warned about an incurable “cancer" that could jeopardise the state’s wine industry. A European magazine recently named Tasmania as the second-best region in the world to invest in vineyards. But producers have been reminded to stay vigilant for Eutypa dieback, a fungal disease that predominantly affects varieties grown in cooler climates and which was first formally identified on the island in 2008. AAP